Goal Setting

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Goal Setting

A goal is a general statement of what an organization or individual intends to accomplish. Without goals, an organization has nothing to guide its actions for the year. Goals provide officers and members with something to strive for and an evaluation measure to determine what the organization has accomplished over the year.Performance of employees and whole organizations is affected by the goals they set themselves.

The most important reasons for having goals are goals guide and direct behaviors of individuals and groups, provide challenges and indicators for assessing the individual and whole groups. Goals define the basis for the organizational design and serve an organizing function. Goal reflects what management and employees find important. Goal setting is the process of developing, negotiating and establishing targets that challenge the individual. Individuals and Organizations strive to achieve their goals, thereby if goals are set up correct, their performance should increase. Ed Locke developed a sophisticated model in their “theory of goal setting and task performance”, also known as “Goal Setting Theory” developed and published in 1968. The basic idea is that a goal serves as a motivator because it allows people to compare their current performance with that required to achieve the goal. To the extend they believe they will miss the goal, they feel dissatisfied and strive to improve their performance to meet it.

Goals can affect performance in three ways. First, goals narrow attention and direct efforts to goal relevant activities, and away from undesirable, and goal irrelevant actions. Second, goals can lead to more effort; for example, if you typically produce 4 widgets an hour, and the goal is to ...

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...als. Employees need accurate feedback on their performance, however, to help them adjust their work methods when necessary and them to persist in working toward goals.

REFERENCES

1. Management and Organization Behavior Dr. Leigh Stelzer REFERENCE OUTLINE: GOAL SETTING, W&N, Chapter 9

2. Stevenson RL: Familiar Studies of Men and Books. New York City, C. Scribner's and Sons, 1902.

3. Lathem, G. & Edwin Locke, (2002) “Building A Practically Useful Theory of Goal Setting and Task Motivation,” American Psychologist, (57) 9:705-17.

4. Locke, Edwin A. (1996) “Motivation Through Conscious Goal Setting,” Applied and Preventive Psychology, 5:117-124.

5. Locke, Edwin A. (2001) “Motivation by Goal Setting,” Handbook of Organizational Behavior, 2: 43-54.

6. http://www.professional-pm.com/a/motivation-goal-setting/model-theory-of-goal-setting-and-task-performance.php

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